Hi there! I work in the Education Department at the Atlanta History Center. We currently have only two programs a year for homeschoolers (topics vary), and we want to expand our homeschool programming. I'm wondering if there are any particular educational needs (extracurricular/field trips, etc.) that are not being met. While we are a history museum, we can easily incorporate some science/technology programs, multi-cultural programs, and so on. History pretty much has a hand in everything. So, I wanted to just reach out and ask what you want or need... for instance, particular subjects or age-specific programming (what about internships for middle- and high schoolers)? Any and all advice, either local or national, would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much! --Andrea

I'm not in Atlanta but thought I would add my opinion. Regular classes are always nice. Something done monthly or every two weeks. Something that we can schedule and count on. Providing an outline before hand so we can "study up" is nice. Around here there are things like this at the zoo and science center but nothing from the history center!

Thank you so much for your suggestion! We have a regular monthly program for pre-schoolers... I'm not sure why it never occured to us to do the same thing for homeschoolers. I will start exploring the idea right away. Again, thank you so much--that was really helpful!

StellarStory- I hadn't thought of the storytelling aspect. Many of our exhibits feature diaries and autobiographies, so perhaps a writing workshop.... or maybe an advanced primary document research workshop, since we have a wonderful archives we could use. Great idea!!! I'll see if I can work something like that in to what I've already planned.

In case anyone is interested, I took froggurami's advice, and have now scheduled 9 monthly homeschool programs on a variety of topics. I have also sent emails out to local homeschool groups offering a free one-year family membership to anyone interested in participating in a focus group to help us meet the needs of homeschoolers. Surprisingly, I haven't had any takers on that, yet.

Another question: I decided to only offer monthly programs during the "school year". I did that in part because we offer 6 weeks of summer camp, and I'm not sure how many museum teachers we'll have on hand to work a homeschool event. But also, I don't really know how homeschoolers typically handle the summer months. Do you take those off, or would you like to see year-round programs?

Andrea,
I have looked at what you are offering and I would love to be part of a focus group. I would like to see some things like the study of farm life that are offered to regular schools. I do like it offered on the same day every month--such as the first monday of the month. It makes it much easier for scheduling field trips.

Extracurricular activities may mean something different for homeschoolers than it does in a school setting. There are a variety of ways to get started with extracurricular activities, some of them has been shortedout below:
1. Fine Arts can incorporate Musical instrument lessons, Singing lessons, Joining a local childrenâ€™s choir, 2-D and 3-D art classes.
2. Arrange Athletics classes of Golf, Horseback riding, Skiing
3. Foreign language lessons, Volunteer work & Community theatre will enhance there skills.
4.Writing and Communication should be made cumpolsory such as Broadcasting, Debate, Foreign Language Clubs, School newspaper

There are a variety of ways to get started with extracurricular activities at a homeschool, depending on your homeschoolâ€™s situation. A good first step is to identify the kinds of extracurricular activities that would be desired. Here is a categorized list of some extracurricular activities that are popular and valuable for homeschoolers
- Fine Arts - Athletics - Science/Math - Astronomy club
- Chess club
- Computer club
- Ecology club
- The Arts - Drama
- Musical Ensembles
- Needlework
-Team Sports